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A program on the verge, Jackson County eyes playoff push in 2014

At least that was Benji Harrison’s take when he accepted the head coaching job at Jackson County in 2012.

Two years and two trips to the playoffs later, Harrison’s model for rebuilding a program in a hurry has proven correct.

“I think they’d been told for so long that they didn’t believe it, didn’t believe they could compete,” Harrison said. “I think that was the big thing, was just changing the mindset of the kids when we got here. We tried to do everything as well as we could and tried to get them to buy into it. They did, really fast.”

The Panthers hadn’t been to the playoffs — hadn’t had a winning season — since 1992. Five of the previous six head coaches went winless in their first year at Jackson County. That changed with a 6-5 campaign in Harrison’s initial season. Jackson County followed that with another trip to the playoffs last season, the first back-to-back postseason appearances since 1986-87.

“From the first day that was our goal, and a lot of people looked at us like we were crazy,” Harrison said. “Why do you play if you don’t want to go to the playoffs? Once you get into the playoffs anything can happen.”

Junior linebacker Griffin McElvery says the culture of the program is completely different than when his older brother was playing a few years back. Jackson County, according to McElvery, is turning into a football school.

“It’s not going into Friday night we’re everyone is saying our band is better than our football team,” he said. “Coach Harrison and the coaches, everyone committed to this program. Those seniors that first season I think changed this program. It’s really fun to go out every Friday night and battle it out knowing that you have a chance.”

Success came after the belief and now there’s excitement. Over 90 players showed up for practice in early August, up from 70 when Harrison took over. Two first round losses, at Cartersville in 2012 and on the road against Blessed Trinity a season ago, introduced the team to postseason competition.

“When you go to the playoffs everyone is just hyped up,” junior offensive lineman Silas Vincent said. “They know we’ve made it this far, we’ve put in all this hard work and they know we put in all this hard work to get here.”

With that experience in mind, reaching the playoffs, according to quarterback Jacob Lewis, is no longer a destination point. It’s another step in the building process.

“We feel the first round is an expectation,” Lewis, one of 14 seniors, said. “If we don’t make that then we fail. Second round, third round, fourth round, fifth round, that’s where we want to go. We want to make it that far. If we’re going to make it that far we have to keep working.”